AN: Sorry for not updating in such a long time. My laptop was broken and it took a while to get a new one.. So here's a longer chapter now. Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!
" Lets be honest Q, you'll be down on your knees at any second, begging me to consider joining your pathetic little squad again", Santana chuckled as she sat next to Quinn behind a large desk filled with try out forms. Quinn was focused on taking notes, watching the young freshman's ability to even make a high jump. The young girl fell on her butt in the failed, miserable attempt.
Quinn groaned in frustration, earning an annoying fit of laughter from Santana, who simply said, "Just say the word, Fabray"
" Next!", the blonde yelled, ignoring her friend. The freshman ran off from the gym in tears, just like the past twenty other girls did.
" Sue would have my head on a plate if I allowed you back in", Quinn muttered, throwing another try out form in the trash can. Santana grinned, pleased to hear that Quinn had actually considered having her back in the team.
" Coach Sylvester simply just needs to get that big stick out of her.."
" Whoa..", Quinn said, her jaw almost hitting the floor at the sight of the young girl before her. Santana looked up and was almost as impressed as the blonde next to her. She raised an eyebrow and sat back, shutting up for once.
" Hello, my name is Blair and I'm here to try out for the Cheerios", the blue eyed brunette stated with a cute smile on her face. Quinn watched her closely, examining her long straight, dark brown hair in pig tails. She was short, yet she had a very athletic fine body. She wore extremely short red shorts and a black tank top that revealed a little too much..
" Girl looked just fine until she opened her mouth", Santana commented, no longer impressed, " She talks just like the hobbit!"
Quinn raised an eyebrow, realizing just how true that statement was. The girl reminded her a lot of Rachel, yet they were different..
" Right, well uh..", Quinn began, trying to get her train of thought back on track, " Show me what you got".
The girl grinned and looked directly at Quinn, " Oh I will", she said, almost flirtatiously. Quinn was taken back a bit, and Santana even looked over at her, watching her blonde friend squirm in her seat a bit.
One of the guy cheerleaders put Blair's tape in the radio player and began to play her song. It was Britney Spear's " Til The World Ends"..
" Oh my..", Santana was about to say but then the girl began her routine with a series of risqué dance moves. She would flip her hair several times, moved her hips and legs along with the music, all while keeping her eyes in lock with the Cheerio Captain, who was stunned.
Halfway through the song, the girl went forward and skillfully jumped up on the table in front of Quinn and Santana, where she continued on with her "sexy" routine.
Santana looked at the girl in disbelief, outraged that she had the nerve to do that. She glanced over at Quinn, who instead of being as disturbed as she was, was actually speechless and staring pathetically at the future pole dancer.
Right before the song ended, the girl shot Quinn a flirty wink and then did a back flip to get down from the table, landing on her feet on the other side of the table, giving Quinn and Santana a perfect view of her butt. Quinn's face turned red as she tried to hide behind her clipboard.
" Look short stuff, I don't know if you got the memo right, but this is Cherrio try outs, the auditions for a job at the Men's Club is down at the- "
" Santana!", Quinn cut her off, slapping her arm in disapproval.
" Come on Fabray, you're not really gonna let this slutty version of Man Hands join, are ya?", Santana raised her voice.
Quinn shifted uncomfortably, but before she could listen to any more of Santana's rant, Blair cut the girl off.
" I believe that's her own decision to make. She is the Captain after all", the brunette girl spoke as a matter of factly, walking towards the table. Quinn looked up at her and couldn't help but notice the girl's feisty attitude and the way she could just talk back to Santana, of all people.
" Anyways, I believe that pretty blonde head of hers can think on her own, right?", she stated, smirking at Quinn, who didn't know what to respond.
" Okay short stuff, you better back off right now before I ends you!", Santana stood up from her seat, having her buttons pushed too far already. She would not put up with someone talking back to her like that. She was Santana Lopez, after all.
" Cool it J. Lo!"
The three girls quickly glanced back at the stands where Sue Sylvester stood, having watched everything from afar.
" What the- Q, you said she was out of town for business stuff", Santana turned to Quinn, who simply nodded but kept her own look of confusion on her face. They watched as the Coach walked down the bleachers and approached them.
" What's your name, you lil' Lindsay Lohan wannabe", Sue stood in front of the short brunette, taking the girl's try out form from Quinn's hand and glancing it over.
" My name is Blair. Blair Sanders", the girl answered without hesitation nor showing a bit of fear like other kids usually would in Sue Sylvester's presence.
" Most horrible name ever", the woman muttered to herself, still examining the girl's try out form. After a moment, she shoved the paper back to Quinn.
" Now I'll be honest with you, I have no idea what the hell I just witnessed from back there. I was disturbed, deeply disturbed. Were you trying to be provocative? Were you trying to seduce my Cheerio Captain back here?", Sue pointed at Quinn standing behind her, "Hell, what would I know. All I know is that whatever I saw was not just disturbing and inappropriate, but it was…good".
" What?", Santana spoke loudly, ready to start protesting.
" You shut it, Lopez!", Sue glanced over at her, " I don't even know what your ass is doing here, this is Cheerio territory only, which I am to remind you that you aren't a part of"
Santana sat back down, muttering Spanish curses to herself, hating the feeling of defeat. Quinn watched back and forth between her and Sue, trying to figure out where this was all going..
" You're in, Sanders", Sue told the short girl, answering Quinn's question. Blair let out a squeal, giving a little jump, trying her best to contain her happiness.
" Fabray, go get the girl a uniform and fill her in on everything before I change my mind", Sue muttered, leaving the gym . Quinn glanced at Santana with an unsure look. Santana just shook her head, knowing the short girl was going to be trouble.
Blair stepped towards Quinn, being a little too close to her. Quinn almost tripped as she took a step back.
" So Captain, seems like we'll be seeing an awful lot of each other, huh?", the girl winked at her and then laughed playfully to herself before leaving the gym as well. She left off with a bounce to her step as she skipped towards the exit. Santana stood up and faced Quinn, who still had a blank expression on her face.
" Q, this girl just needs a taste of what Lima Heights is like and.."
" 'Tana please", Quinn warned, " Maybe she won't be that bad"
" That bad? Quinn you wanted to be on top this year, right? Well while she was performing, that girl left you powerless. Try denying that!", Santana raised her voice at her. Quinn didn't say anything.
Santana walked around her and spoke closer to hear, " Try denying the fact that you actually liked it, Fabray"
Quinn stepped back and shot a death glare at her friend. Santana shrugged and laughed a bit.
" Things are finally gonna start getting interesting around here", Santana smirked, picking up her bag and slowly left the gym, leaving Quinn behind.
Quinn glanced around her, trying to make sense of how a dumb try out session could've ended up like this. She took a seat behind the desk again and buried her face in her hands, groaning in frustration. She feared that maybe Santana was right, as always.
" But Finn, you promised!", Rachel followed Finn as he walked towards his locker. Rachel looked at him with pleading eyes, while he just looked away trying to avoid the confrontation.
" Can't we just reschedule, Rach?", he said, reaching his locker and turning to face her as he began to pull books out of his backpack.
" We could, but that's not the point, Finn. You said you would come over for dinner tonight, I even told my dads!", Rachel raised her voice at him.
" Your dads don't even like me," he muttered, shoving a few books in his locker, " They're cool, but… they scare me".
" They like you… they're just still trying to get to know you, Finn", she tried to explain, " And if you decide to skip this dinner then you'll certainly not give a very good impression"
" I.. I uh..", Finn began and then sighed, " Look, I told that new Irish kid, Rory, that I'd take him out to hang with the guys", he told her and the hurt could immediately be seen in Rachel's eyes.
" He could join New Directions, Rach. This is a good thing, wouldn't you like that? I'm getting us a new member", he tried to cheer her up with a goofy smile. Rachel didn't seem too impressed.
" Although I'd appreciate a new member in our team, I believe we are good with the two Cheerios that recently joined", she admitted, " And I would think that maybe having dinner with your girlfriend's parents would be more important than just hanging with the guys, considering you practically abandoned her at the Star Gaze party just a few weeks ago", she said bitterly, looking down at her feet.
" I'm sorry, Rachel. I already told you that. I-," he began but then Puck appeared behind him, patting his shoulder.
" Trouble in paradise?", he interrupted them, shooting them a questioning look. Rachel and Finn stared at each other, Finn not knowing what to say and Rachel just feeling a mix of hurt and disappointment.
" No, not at all, Noah", Rachel stated coldly. Puck nodded and shrugged off the smaller girl's sad mood.
" Alright, well I just came by to say that the new Cheerio that joined this morning is looking hot and the Puckerman is out to hunt", Puck spoke with a grin on his face, " We should do like a double date thing or whatever, what do you guys say?"
" Awesome man, this girl said yes already?", Finn asked him, smiling and forgetting about his little argument with Rachel.
" Not yet. But I mean, no one ever turns me down", he scoffed as it was obvious.
" Quinn did", Rachel muttered as a matter of factly. Puck gave her a hard look which she simply shrugged off.
" I wouldn't be so sure, Puck"
Santana walked by the group and then stood by Puck with an amused look on her face. The three of them looked at the Latina with questioning eyes.
" I don't think you're her type", she stated with a smile.
" What's that supposed to mean?", Puck folded his arms across his chest.
" What I mean is that 'boys' aren't exactly her type", she revealed, as Finn and Rachel raised their eyebrows and looked shocked.
" I'm okay with that, makes her way hotter", Puck's grin turned wider.
" Are you sure that's not just a rumor, Santana? She's new here and I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate such rumors to be spread about her on her first day.." Rachel began but Santana cut off her rambling.
" I'm sure, man hands. I have an awesome gaydar. And besides, the girl was totally all over Quinn during her try out", Santana explained.
" Hot!", Puck high fived Finn. Rachel's eyes got a bit bigger.
" Wha-at?", Rachel tried to process the new information. The new Cheerio was all over Quinn? Did Quinn allow this? Why would she let the girl? She must have let her if the girl was actually able to join the team…
" Wait, how did Quinn let her in on the team then? Quinn wouldn't seem like the type of girl… I mean, if the girl did that, Quinn wouldn't have..", Finn tried to make out words but his confusion was getting the best of him.
" Coach Sylvester let her in. Quinn didn't say much, she was far too speechless after watching the girl's routine", Santana explained.
" B-But how, I don't underst-tand", Rachel began to stutter." Look, all I know is that the girl was obviously flirting with Quinn. And Fabray didn't do a thing to stop her. You try to make sense of that", Santana finished and with one last shrug she walked away from the group, leaving them confused.
Rachel's thoughts about Finn ditching her that night to hang out with the boys were completely out of her mind by then. She was far too preoccupied with her thoughts about the new information about the blonde girl who had been in her mind ever since the Star Gaze party.
" Here's this", Quinn took out a Cheerios uniform out of a box in the girl's locker room and held it out in front of her, taking a closer look, " I think it's your size. Go try it on", she then turned back to Blair and handed her the uniform.
" It looks so..", Blair looked down at the uniform, " Short"
" Your shorts are shorter", Quinn pointed out, giving her a look.
" It wasn't a complaint", Blair chuckled with a flirty smile again. Quinn rolled her eyes as she closed up the uniform box.
" Just go try it on- whoa!", Quinn quickly looked away and closed her eyes, " What the hell are you doing!"
" You said to try it on..", Blair laughed in a fake innocent tone, continuing getting undressed.
" Not in front of me like that!", Quinn scoffed, looking down at the floor. She saw how Blair's clothes landed near her feet as she threw them off. She couldn't help but feel her cheeks turn red.
" Come on, you see girls change all the time in this locker room, why so shy now, Quinn?"
Quinn could tell the girl had a grin on her face and that made her furious. How was this younger girl thinking she could intimidate her? She was the Captain of the Cheerios, she was the HBIC at McKinley for God's sake!
" You can look now", Blair said with a playful tune. Quinn rolled her eyes and turned around, " How does it look?", Blair asked her, giving a little twirl in the short uniform. It looked great on her, even Quinn could see that.
" It looks fine", she muttered and went back to the box, putting it away near the storage room. Blair followed closely. Sensing the younger girl's close approach, Quinn stopped walking and turned to face her, ready to put the girl in place.
" I'm not like that, you know", she raised her voice at Blair, who didn't move, " So you can stop with all the flirting and the inappropriate behavior. I'm your Capatain, you hear me? And I'm not okay with you acting all.."
" So you're not like that…"
" Yes, I'm not. I'm not into girls", Quinn quickly confirmed.
" Then why didn't you stop me back at the audition?", Blair questioned, raising an eyebrow, " You could've stopped me if you didn't like it, or did you? 'Cause for someone that is not into that, you certainly seemed to be", Blair pointed out.
" I was simply being professional and going through watching your full audition, so don't you dare think any more of it", Quinn snapped back at her.
" You know, for someone who doesn't approve of my flirty behavior, you certainly are okay with standing so close to me", Blair stated with a slight smile.
Quinn was about to respond but then realized just how close she was actually standing in front of Blair. Their faces were inches away from each other. She quickly backed off.
" Quinn?"
The smaller voice startled both the Captain and the new Cheerio. They jumped back a bit and turned to face the girl that had just came in without making a sound. It was Rachel Berry, and she stood there watching the two girls who seemed to have just been "interrupted".
" Berry? What the heck are you doing here?", Quinn's attention left Blair the moment she saw Rachel standing there.
" I uh-", Rachel began, playing with her hands nervously, "Um you see, I uh came to see if I could find you. But I see now that I'm interrupting.."
"You're not interrupting anything", Quinn cut her off, " Blair was just leaving", she said, giving the younger girl a hard look. The girl just looked back at Rachel and nodded.
" Yes", she said and glanced at Quinn, " I think I've got just what I needed", she grinned and then stepped back, getting ready to make an exit. Rachel couldn't help but notice the not so subtle exchange of looks between the two girls. As she walked past Rachel, Blair purposely bumped by her on the way out, almost a shove. Rachel had felt dislike for the girl the moment she saw her standing so close to Quinn. The feeling was obviously mutual coming from the other girl's part. The girl's footsteps faded away and the loud sound of the locker room's door slamming shut brought the two girls to look up and face each other.
" What is it you want, Berry", Quinn stated. It wasn't cold or demanding, it didn't sound harsh or mean. It sounded like a simple normal question. Rachel watched as Quinn went back to putting away the box of uniforms.
" I simply came to uh.. Well we haven't really spoken since the party a few weeks ago and..", Rachel tried to speak but found herself nervous. She was always nervous around Quinn, but it never affected her this much til now.
" What about the party?", Quinn said and turned to face Rachel. She crossed her arms across her chest and stared at the shorter girl in front of her.
" Well I wanted to thank you", Rachel finally got out, " For keeping me company for a while, being a wonderful companion, someone I could talk t-"
" Berry, I was drunk", Quinn quickly said before Rachel could continue, " I was drunk, I was the only one that had seen you in that hill and.."
" Whatever the reason, Quinn, whether you were drunk or not, I still thank you", Rachel cut her off this time with an assuring smile. Quinn eyed her carefully, realizing she wouldn't be able to change her mind. Rachel continued to look at her as if trying to read her, looking too deeply. The cheerleader began to feel too uncomfortable so she spoke up.
" Alright then", she began, raising an eyebrow, " So how about you tell me the real reason you're looking for me before I lose my patience here"
Rachel nodded nervously and took a closer step towards the taller girl. Quinn eyed her suspiciously, she was confused by the girl's nervous and shy behavior. She was usually so cheery and could never stop talking once she opened her mouth. Why was it so hard for her to barely open her mouth now?
" Berry.."
" Santana said something today and though I believe it's just nonsense and just her trying to spread false accusations, I still couldn't help but wonder and er- I came to you, the source, to confirm that-"
" What did Santana say?", Quinn demanded in a rush of panic, knowing her friend was never up to any good. Besides, she didn't need any stories being spread about her, not now, not when she's already on top..
" Santana", Rachel spoke carefully in quick breaths, trying to avoid the blonde's mean eyes, " She said that the new cheerio you let in on your team played for the other team..s-she said that in her try out she was making moves on you, flirting with you..And she said..she said y-you let her. T-That she left you speechless".
Quinn's expression was blank, she stood still while looking down at Rachel, who was surprised that the girl didn't storm off to look for the latina girl or that she didn't just start yelling at her. Rachel watched how Quinn just stepped back and shook her head.
" Q-Quinn?", Rachel spoke, confused by her reaction, " Are you okay? I mean, is it true?"
" It's true", the blonde stated taking a seat on one of the benches nearby, " Blair does like girls. But I don't", she said and gave her a hard look, " I don't. And everyone just needs to back off"
" Yes, she did try to make some moves on me during her try out, but I simply let her because I was being professional. I needed to watch her full audition. And it was Coach Sylvester's decision to let her in, not mine", Quinn explained as Rachel took a seat next to her. Rachel listened on and found herself somewhat relieved, not knowing quite why.
" So that's that", Quinn finished and took a deep breath. Rachel nodded and smiled, her eyes fully set on the girl sitting by her.
" Sorry for thinking that-"
" You shouldn't believe everything Santana says, you know", Quinn said softly, looking down at her hands.
" I know", Rachel whispered gently to herself, loud enough for Quinn to hear.
" Then why come to me and ask if you didn't already believe her?", Quinn turned to her, curiously.
" Because you I do believe, Quinn", Rachel admitted.
Quinn was taken back by her response and was stuck gazing at her, wondering how or why Rachel could always just be..nice to her, even when she didn't deserve it. If she had been her, she would've ran the rumor around the school not caring if it was false or not. But not Rachel. Here she was..in some way caring and being concerned.
" Finn should really teach you about who to believe in or not", Quinn muttered, trying to push her thoughts aside. Rachel scoffed and quickly began to look rather annoyed at the mention of the boy's name.
" I really don't wish to speak about him right now", the diva said in a not too happy tone. Quinn raised her eyebrow and grew curious.
" So what did the big oaf do now?", she questioned with a small chuckle. Rachel glanced at her with a sad look and felt insecure about telling Quinn of her relationship problems with Finn, the girl's ex-boyfriend. But as always, she couldn't hold anything back from her.
" Finn, he uh- he decided to bail on dinner with me and my dads tonight", she said in a low voice, looking down at her feet in shame. Quinn opened her mouth to speak but didn't know what to say. All she could think was..what a stupid boy Finn Hudson was. She felt angry and annoyed with him already.
She then realized that she had raised her hand and had put it on Rachel's back in a comforting way. She panicked, not knowing why she was doing it, why she was even touching Rachel. But the smaller girl did seem comforted by the touch, so she didn't pull away..
" Um T-That's Finn for ya", she said, suddenly feeling nervous.
" He loves me", Rachel said quickly, as if it was something she had to make the blonde girl believe, " I know he does. But sometimes I just wish he could-"
" Show it", Quinn finished for her.
" Yes", Rachel nodded, her brown eyes meeting Quinn's hazel eyes. It was a silent moment between the two, and as Rachel's stare became too deep again, Quinn decided to break it.
" Y-You", Quinn pulled away and stood up from the seat nervously, " Just have patience. Finn can be..slow sometimes"
Rachel stood up two and followed the girl's motions, still not losing eye contact with her. She nodded at Quinn's 'advice'.
Quinn cleared her throat and then motioned towards the door, needing to get away from the smaller girl as quickly as possible.
" I need to leave now", she told Rachel, " Practice starts soon and I need to uh.. Stop Santana from telling people stupid things, I can't…Have people thinking stuff", she said. Rachel gave her a small smile.
"I know, people will start asking questions and you do not wish for your reputation to be ruined because of-"
" Exactly", Quinn sighed. Rachel took a closer step towards her.
" You know, I w-wouldn't, I mean the Glee club..we wouldn't judge you if you were..", Rachel began but then Quinn began to walk away.
" Just leave quickly, Berry. Unless you wish to be slushied by Cheerios", Quinn called out, heading towards the door and ignoring whatever Rachel had tried to say, " You're lucky I didn't".
And with that she left Rachel alone in the locker room. The diva couldn't help but smile to herself knowing that Quinn Fabray wasn't as bad as she thought herself to be. The bell rang and before any cheerios could enter the locker room and find her there, she ran out, not noticing the fallen gold star necklace she had left behind on the floor.